molly: welcome to the france 24 newsroom. hollande -- friends people are detained in connection with an abandoned car in paris. russia and the united states get set for another round of syrian peace talks.

♪ hollande hasis just made a sweeping speech on terrorism and democracy. he touched upon the security threats france faces, the defensive measures he has taken and the initiative he wants to see in the future. france through the past four years in its fight deadly extremism i have no doubt that despite these difficult and painful times the , despite and the tears

the fear which at times integrates us, despite our anxiety and suffering we will overcome this. democracy will always be stronger than the barbarity which has declared war upon us. for more on what we heard from the french president i'm joined by our french editor marc perelman. it did very much seem like something a presidential candidate would make. we don't yet know if he's running. absolutely. this was a tricky exercise. he has not officially declared whether he will run again. he has said repeatedly despite pressure from his lieutenants that he would do this at the end of the year in december. he is the president. this is about terrorism, democracy.

we just heard a statement about the fight against terrorism. he had toer at hand give a hint of what he would do in december and the hint was very clear. he will probably try to do his best to run again. the polls a really bad for him right now. he made several attacks on the far right and the conservative .amps making some failed references to thelegal troubles and primary that's going to happen on the right. the desire of conservative leaders to curtail civil liberties, cut back on social benefits. he was sending a message to the left. don't count me out. i have done a lot for france. i'm there to protect the french but also our way of life, welfare system, the europe that is clearly in danger.

he's aiming at political commentators because he is hoping to see headlines tomorrow. he wants to show he is ready for another fight. this was built as a presidential/candidate speech. he said he was in it for the next months if not years to defend france. we know the 2017 election is coming up in april. where do things stand in the race? is very farhollande behind. never has a president been as unpopular as him. all the polls show that he has between 15 and 18% ratings. rightbehind the far candidate. as things stand she is a shoo-in

for round two of the presidential election. who will face her? right now it looks like the conservative candidate will be designated through a primary is clearly well ahead of the socialist candidate and what's more worrisome for francois hollande is that other socialists would fare better than he would especially according to a poll that came out just a few days ago. his until recently economy minister resigned from the government and was considering a presidential run. the first poll taken after his resignation showed that he would do better than hollande in any presidential campaign. clearly the odds are really against him. a president. he hopes he can rally the left. and fight for the rule of law that france keeps its social

welfare. we will see if the french will believe him. as things stand it is a very long shot for francois hollande. molly: thank you for that analysis. we are going to stay here in the french capital. arrests inbeen relation to a suspected plot to attack central paris. are being four people held in connection to an abandoned car that was left near notre dame cathedral. gas cylinders inside. the owner was released from police custody on tuesday but authorities are looking for his 19-year-old daughter who is said to be radicalized. >> another potential assault on french soil. mosttime at one of paris's famous sites, the notre dame cathedral. authorities noted a suspicious cacar with a gas cylinder on the backseat.

five gas cylinders were found inside that no detonators were discovered. the car's owner was initially taken into custody but was later released as he had notified police on sunday that his daughter had disappeared with his car. 19-year-old woman is already known to security services for having the attention -- intention to leave for syria. many say they don't feel a sense of danger. apparently this area is not as many tourists as their normally are. >> at the moment i feel really secure. i have been here before. for me there is no difference from last time. >> tourism in paris has dropped when 130nce november

people were killed in a coordinated gun and bomb attack. france remains on maximum alert and thousands of extra police and soldiers have been deployed --cook -- control sensitive control sensitive sites across the country. molly: a survivor from the paris attacks appeared in court on thursday. he refused to talk. gives are hoping he will more information on the attacks that killed 130 people. alexander our current reports. the only surviving suspect from the november 13 paris attacks was transported to court for his second hearing. centraleard at paris's courthouse by antiterrorism judges. the 26-year-old exercised his right to remain silent. it's believed that on the night of the assault the belgian born

suspect dropped off three suicide bombers and abandoned his car in northern paris. his own unused suicide belt was later found. it is unclear whether he backed out of blowing himself up or if the belt malfunctioned. he has vowed to give his version of events before the trial but that could still be months away. toestigators are also keen find out what role he may have played in the brussels bombings and how extensive the islamic state group's terrorist cell is in europe. for now their questions remain unanswered. molly: russia and the united states will start a new syrian peace effort. this has not been confirmed by the united states. moscow and washington back opposing sides in the civil war. negotiations have been difficult.

they have failed to agree on how to move forward. the u.s. and russia are yet to reach any meaningful cease-fire deal in syria. for president obama speaking in china on monday, a lack of mutual trust is behind the impasse. some productive conversations about what a real cessation of hostilities with look like. given the gaps of trust that exist that is a tough negotiation. we haven't yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually work. state johnretary of kerry and his russian counterpart have met twice in two weeks but to no avail. both countries have been working since july on initiatives to hold the violence in areas where moderate opposition groups supported by the u.s. and gulf

allies have been fighting russian backed syrian government forces. that aim became further complicated in aleppo where extremist groups have become intermingled with opposition fighters backed by washington. russia has said the u.s. has promised but failed to help separate moderate factions from extremist islamists. for washington any deal is dependent on grounding syria's air force and unhindered passage for humanitarians applies. its eventual success would also hinge on russia using it influence over the syrian -- syrian strongman bashar al-assad. molly: the military offensive is now in its second week.

altra says it would support a u.s. initiative against the islamic state stronghold. starting to return home. this was the first town captured by turkey's army. in the united states donald trump has declared that vladimir putin has been a better leader than barack obama. he made the statement during a televised national security event that featured both the republican nominee and his rival hillary clinton. .hey appeared separately it was the first time they took to the same stage. both presidential candidates hoping to prove they have what it takes to become commander-in-chief. both found themselves on the defensive. up first was clinton. some critics have said her use of a private e-mail server to discuss classified information should disqualify her from the race.

to used it was a mistake a private account during her time as secretary of state but once again defended herself. >> classified material has a ,eader which says top secret secret, confidential. none of the e-mails sent or received by me had such a header. >> clinton's hawkish reputation also featured prominently. she expressed regret for supporting the iraq war in 2003 adding that trump had also been in favor of the invasion. she stood her ground as a key proponent of u.s. military intervention in syria -- libya in the face of trump's criticism. trump had a difficult time explaining his plan to defeat the islamic state organization while attempting to temper earlier claims that he knew more than the generals. >> when i do come up with a plan

that i like and that perhaps agrees with mine or maybe doesn't. i may love what the generals come back with. >> you have your own plan. >> i have a very substantial chance of winning. if i win i don't want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is. behavior havetic earned him criticism. on wednesday he reiterated his controversial praise for vladimir putin but insisted the pair's apparent mutual admiration wouldn't affect his decision-making. >> he says great things about me i'm going to say great things about him. he is very much of a leader. the man has very strong control over a country. >> clinton has been ahead in national opinion polls since the start but trump has been closing

in on her lead since mid-august. francois hollande has assessed the state of the french republic and its future. record on his national security while calling for national cohesion. more people are detained in connection with an abandoned car in paris. the vehicle was left near notre dame cathedral with gas tanks inside. russia and the united states gets set for another round of syrian peace talks. they are expected to meet once again in a bid to reach a cooperation deal. time for a business update. i'm joined by stephen carroll. we will start with the european central bank. the ecb is set to announce its interest rate decision in the next half hour followed by the usual press conference from the president mario draghi.

the markets treading water ahead of that decision. some gains in london. paris and frankfort just dipping into the red. not expecting the european central bank to change interest rates. we are waiting to hear if mario draghi will extend the bond buying program set to expire next month. the deadline is coming up very soon. have they achieved what they want with respect to inflation or growth, certainly not. brexit was one of the elements and it has left a number of stains on what ecb were going to do. julyhappened in june or

even before brexit, the ecb was pretty much ready and confident with respect to what they have assimilated with quantitative easing. they were going to upgrade the forecast. with her exit the data is not giving them that much and perhaps now is the time for them to come back and say are we going to do more quantitative easing, reduce the deposit rate, cut the interest rate or helicopter money. i don't think any of these extreme measures will be on the table today. >> the latest iphone has been given a muted reception by tech experts and apple fans. apple needs to spark fresh consumer demand. the new model has an improved camera. it is water resistant. the headphone jack has

disappeared to favor wireless earphones. this comes at an important juncture for apple. in 2016.e been falling investors were not impressed with what they've heard. apple shares closed up just slightly on wednesday. the big winner seems to have been nintendo. after theyjumped announced they would release a version of super mario brothers for the iphone. it's the end of an era in high-speed rail. production is being moved to another site in eastern france but the workers aren't happy. here's the story. >> it was the birthplace of french high-speed trains. this company has been churning out locomotives since 1880.

two years from now no new engines will leave the stores. company will move all production to another site. devastating decision for the 490 employees. >> they will be closing our factory in two years. how do you expect us to react other than with anger and hate? it is sickening. >> i've been working here for 36 years. it's quite a blow. >> the closure is due to a drop in orders for new trains in france. the company signed a 1.8 billion euro deal with amtrak but those trains are being built in the u.s.. decision to close the production site sparked outcry from locals and politicians across parties. -- former economist me

economy minister had visited to promise government support. he has promised no jobs will be lost. the impacted employees will be offered to transfer to another site. perhaps being a multimillionaire just isn't good enough. will askchase customers from its private bank for not being rich enough. the wall street journal says well -- it will exclude many of the big lawyers from top firms. many of them were allowed access to bank services without meeting the minimum 5 million requirement. what a terrible dilemma. that's pretty harsh. time for our press review.

i'm joined in the studio by catherine. we are going to start in the u.s. where we saw donald trump and hillary clinton take the stage not at the same time to address national security. forum that was held as being seen as a front runner for the presidential debates. the new york times reporting on the forum saying that hillary clinton faced tougher and at times she appeared stilted in her responses. she was more specific in laying out her proposals then donald trump. trump continued his record of making lunch statements without providing details. the washington post reporting on the highs and lows of the interview. the post felt clinton appeared stilted and sometimes on word in

her answers regarding questions about her private e-mail server. forp reaffirmed his support russian president vladimir putin saying he thinks he would have a really good relationship with russia. the event was held in new york. the audience made up of active duty and military veterans. that is a group that tends to skew republican. recent polls are showing that trump is leading clinton by 19 points. 36% among the military. molly: some people are looking at the reporter who hosted the event saying he was the biggest loser of the evening. tell us why. was responsible for holding the candidates accountable in this interview. trump not question donald overly tough.

they said he gave him softball questions. politico is reporting he even failed to fact check trump on the issue of whether or not he supported the iraq war in 2002. trump says he never supported the iraq war. not the out that is case. he has said in interviews he was for it. other news organizations jumped on it and fact checked it. nbc fact checked it and said it was fault. new york times reporter says the forum was an embarrassment to journalism. molly: i understand a political website is taking it even a step further. >> i love their headline. , questions on a curve. matt lauer may as well have asked trump about his summer vacation. that gives you an indication about how they felt about matt lauer's questioning.

both the new york times and washington post felt clinton got the harder questions. the article compares open-ended questioning of trump as something that a third grader would be asked. what has prepared you to be commander in chief? this is in contrast to his pounding away on clinton on her e-mails in his very first question to her. questions heof the asked of trump tested his knowledge of foreign policy issues. nail him not try to down on any specifics or hold his feet to the fire on any flip-flops. on thewe will focus latest efforts to end the war in syria. >> there is an ongoing negotiation. we will begin with this editorial in the daily telegraph. it's written by the general coordinator of the high negotiations committee. he says syrians cannot fight for

their liberation battle alone and as long as other countries standby on the sidelines and failed to step in and stop the crimes of a regime that has lost its legitimacy syrians are going to continue to suffer. he also writes the only way to defeat the islamic state group is to have a government in damascus that shares the value of the international community. and that this is going to be a challenging and difficult process but a new future for syria is within reach. the real issueg in the current negotiations is going to be aleppo and the state of aleppo. the says the proposal that has just been put forth is a handsome proposal that it is hard to count the number of times syrians have held their

breath in anticipation of agreements only for them to fall apart. one of the key elements that is different is that it will allow bashar al-assad to stay in power for six months during a transition. that may help this proposal get more support than previous ones. the paper says it's really going to come down to aleppo. control of the city is going to hold a diplomatic solution. russia wants military achievements by the assad government in aleppo to generate a turning point that would make it clear to the rebels that it will pay to surrender. washington wants government attacks in the city to stop, a cease-fire to be implemented and then to discuss aleppo as part of negotiations. molly: the french government is launching a new campaign to stop sexism in daily life. >> that's right. the headline on the paper is

saying, sexism, you also say stop. this campaign aims to fight what the paper says are the daily humiliations inflicted on women here in france such as cat calling. 1